Spring is here, and it looks like snowboarding season will be once again coming to an end for me. It's been a great season, I do wish I had gotten a few more trips, but I really can't complain. I spent more than enough time on the slopes in Tahoe, Vail, and Park City this year. Now it's time to focus on the rest of seasons and activities to come!

That being said, I've begun my training for the San Francisco Marathon on July 31st. I just started running again, 2 weeks ago, after being on the sidelines for nearly 9 weeks due to an IT (illiotibial) Band injury. Actually, I guess it was really a case of bursitis underneath my IT Band. I went through 3 weeks of physical therapy because not running for 5 weeks didn't seem to help, and I needed someone to tell me what was going on. A little ultrasound, icing, stretching, and massage and I'm back on the road again.

This past weekend I ran the Great Race in Saratoga, and it felt really good to just be able to run pain free. Though the course was only 4 miles it was very fun!

I can say I've learned one thing, and that is to be careful not to overdue the training, especially when it comes to mileage.

My injury came possibly from 2 things. The week prior to my injury I had run a 23.5 mile long run, and was a little sore the following week. I had only run twice the following week, and began my long run the following Saturday. Half way into my 11 mile run, I felt a sharp pain just above my knee on the outer side of my left leg. The pain was so much I had to immediately stop, I couldn't even walk for a few minutes and just stood there and stretched. Mind you I had a nice slow 5 mile walk back home in 53 degree weather. I remember barely being able to unlock my door to my apartment because my fingers where so numb.

So I possibly didn't recover enough or should have just taken the week off as I probably ran the long run a little too fast.

The other thing though is that I had bought a new pair of shoes later the day that I ran the 23.5 miles, and on top of that I changed models after running with the same brand and model for almost 6 years. I guess I'll never know if it was the shoes, and overuse injury or a combination of both.

During the 8 weeks that I couldn't run, I because a gym rat again, and did most of my training on the cycle, elliptical cross-trainers, stair-steppers (this didn't bother my leg), and after about 4 weeks began running slowly with a 12 minute min alternating running and walking for a couple of weeks. Additionally, I did some upper body weight lifting and ab work. I think the interval training on the cycle and elliptical trainer really helped out.

I'm looking forward to running quite a few races this summer to include: wharf-to-wharf, bay to breakers, bridge run, SF Marathon, SF bridge to bridge run, and the US Half Marathon in SF.

And hopefully somewhere inbetween all that a hike up half dome, some mountain biking, and a bunch of other hikes or camping trips.

So that's my spiel for now.